Things Are Different Now
by Taisi
Summary: In which Conrad deals with an unwelcome blast from the past and inner reflection. Thanks to Hanna. Hey, maybe he'll learn something.


A/N: Another HiNaBN fic! 8D Whoooo! Ahahaha… No, for real guys, I'm totally and completely one-hundred percent working on my other stories. I promise. For seriously.

Anyway…

* * *

_Things Are Different Now_

Conrad really wasn't entirely one-hundred percent sure how he'd found himself in his current situation. Walking down a street that was only vaguely familiar, towards a bar that he'd never been to in his life, on his way to meet a group of people he knew from _high school _- and if that wasn't enough {because Heaven forbid that alone be enough} he was bringing along some...guests.

"Saturday nights are cool, y'know Hyperion? Not like Thursdays."

There was an agreeable murmur in response, and Conrad fought the urge to beat his head against a telephone pole.

The night was most certainly doomed to failure.

* * *

The only reason _why _things were spiraling rapidly in a distinctly _downward_ direction was because he'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. And the only reason he'd been there at all was because of Hanna.

See, Conrad had no need for food, for obvious reasons, but the detective {if he could be called as much} just looked so...well, puny. He was crazy thin and would laugh about all the meals he didn't mind missing so long as the rent got paid in time, but oh don't worry, now that he had Perceus things were a lot better 'cause he got to eat every _day, _like, all the meals you're supposed to eat! Like, even _breakfast!_

It was painful to listen to, and so Conrad had effectively distracted the excitable redhead with his radio, and turned to the zombie with his offer; while he couldn't use a well-stocked kitchen, Hanna certainly could. The zombie's orange eyes were grateful and made Conrad feel, well, helpful. Which, while new, was still a damn good feeling.

So that's how Conrad found himself grocery-shopping in the supermarket, judging food by what Hanna would like and what Hanna's undead housemate would approve of, when he made an unfortunate turn into aisle three where he came face to face with someone he hadn't seen in roughly nine years. Which also, coincidentally, was roughly nowhere _near _long enough.

And of course, a chance the other man might not recognize him would be way too much to ask, right?

"..._Achenleck?_ No way! Conrad, right?" The man laughed and the vampire felt himself tense up immediately.

In high school, that laugh would have spelled humiliation for him. "Roberts," he said as civilly as he could manage, grip tightening on the shopping cart handle. He was definitely not someone Conrad had imagined himself sharing pleasantries with in the canned foods section.

"This is crazy." The other man was tall, good-looking, and too confident for his own good. Even now, he was giving Conrad a once-over, smile pulling into a familiar smirk that was incredibly superior and seriously grated on Conrad's already-shot-to-hell-at-this-point-in-his-life nerves. It was _the _smirk, the one that usually preceded someone else's misfortune. "So you live around here?"

As much as Conrad wanted to reel from the conversation, he had enough self-control to pull together a "Yeah," in response. Roberts' smile widened and Conrad wished he could disappear altogether.

_Why can't I be a vampire that turns invisible or something?_

"Well, listen. Some friends of mine, you'd probably remember them, and I are in town-" _For what? _Conrad wanted to ask, skeptically "-and we're gonna get together tomorrow night at a club down the street from here. You know it?"

_Unfortunately. _"Yes?"

"You should come with."

_Hell no. Hell no. Hell no. Hell no. _

"You can bring some, ahem..._friends _along if you want."

_The fuck is with that tone, bastard?_

"So, eight o'clock sound okay?"

_You're out of your fucking mind if you think for one fucking second I'm going to - _

"Cool. See you then, yeah?"

Chuckling, Roberts pushed his cart away and left Conrad standing there in the middle of the aisle, clenching his fists around the steel bar of the cart handle so tightly that there were smooth grooves imbedded where his hands had been when he let go.

"Fuck!" No part of him wanted, _at all, _to go 'hang out' with the people Roberts probably had in mind. No part of him wanted, _AT ALL, _to sit there with them and be laughed at and made fun of in the subtle, adult-way they'd probably have mastered at this point in their lives.

But that stupid tone of voice the bastard had... Was the idea that Conrad had friends really that ridiculous?

And maybe it was wounded pride {yeah right}, or a burning desire to have that asshole proven wrong once and for all, but the vampire, acting on an impulse a part of him was sure he'd regret later, flipped his phone out and punched a number he had on speed-dial.

A breathless voice answered on the third ring. _"Hello?"_

Gripping the phone so firmly that the screen started to blink out, Conrad gritted out tersely, "What are you doing tomorrow night at eight?"

There was a brief pause. _"Uhhh...nothing? Probably?" _The voice got distant and the question was repeated to someone else on the other line, who replied with an affirmative. "_Yeah, nothing. Y'know, unless there's a sudden infestation of like - shit, ow - zombies at the park or something - haha, no offense Thomas - "_

"Then you're coming with me. Your - Thomas or whoever can come too."

_"Ehh? Where? Ahh, fuck, the rune broke - I gotta go Connie, tell me on the way, okay? We'll meet you at your apartment. Eight, right?" _There was a mess of static and a crunch, and then the line was dead.

With an irritable huff, Conrad snapped his phone shut and pocketed it {trying hard not to imagine just what it was Hanna was doing}, proceeding to push the cart toward the checkout counter; all the while considering how strange it was to be able to call someone, needing someone, and for them to be there so fully, even if they didn't know why.

Strange, but...not bad.

Definitely not bad.

* * *

"...This is it." He stood outside the entrance, hearing the music as clearly as if he were already inside. It was a new place, on the edge of town; absolutely nothing like the Rabbit Hole. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to just _be anywhere else. _It probably wasn't too late to turn tail and fucking run.

"Heeeey, Augustus, isn't this near that one place we found?"

It's not like they could call him or stop by his apartment or something. There really was absolutely nothing stopping him from standing them up and doing something more productive with his Saturday night.

"Hm. I think so."

But... His tone had been so _cutting. _The way it always was before. But this time, he was _wrong. _Because Conrad did have—

A hand grabbed his suddenly and he was being yanked away from the bar, off the sidewalk and across the street. "Wha- Hanna, what the fuck?" he snapped, stumbling as he tried to keep up; he was under the impression that if he tripped he'd probably be dragged along the asphalt anyway.

Though the redhead didn't spare him a glance, he could practically hear a wide smile in the reply; "I totally didn't even think to show you this before! There's something really neat over here, I think you'll like it!"

The vampire scowled, in no hurry to share an over-priced drink with people he couldn't stand but slightly concerned for his overall well-being since it was _Hanna_ after all. "I'm about to get eaten, aren't I?"

But Hanna's zombie chaperone was jogging placidly beside them, easily keeping pace with his 'employer' {whatever}, and his apparent lack of concern assuaged at least most of Conrad's haughty uncertainty. He was certain the undead man wouldn't knowingly let Hanna run off to anything _too _bitey.

The sidewalk gave way to grass and Conrad figured they were probably nearing the city limits. Hanna hadn't slowed down or released his hand, but he wasn't feeling all that breathless {a vampire perk, he assumed}. The grass was thickening into untamed weeds and brushing above his knees by the time Hanna finally stopped. Glancing over his shoulder, Conrad could easily make out the nearest street with its cars and lights and people. But turning away, and seeing nothing but empty openness, it was easy to pretend there was nothing else around.

Lonely in a way. But he wasn't there alone.

"Winston and I found this earlier." Hanna's voice was very quiet, even as a smile shone in the brightness of his eyes. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." It came out a little caustic, but he was curious at this point and the unenthusiastic tone rolled off Hanna completely {as it always did}. The young man grinned widely and took out his sharpie, scrawling something on the palm of his hand. Then he stepped forward, sweeping the marked hand out in front of him; an arc of bright blue followed it, and instantly the field erupted into light.

It was as if Hanna had disrupted a flock of birds; creatures that looked like butterflies the size of dinner plates took to the air from the tangled weeds, delicate and soft and shimmering so white they glowed. They fluttered about in harmonious discord, as silent and graceful as falling snow.

Conrad could do nothing but stare as they filled the air around him, wanting to know what they were but unwilling to ask; to speak would be to ruin the feeling - because for just a minute, he remembered being a kid again, so fucking small in the grand scheme of things and yet so full of simple, directionless, questionless faith. Faith in people, faith in ideas, faith in good trumping bad every time because that's just how life should _be. _

And it might've been two minutes or twenty, but slowly those bright, fluttery things faded, one by one, out of sight, and as they went the feeling went with them - for the most part. Because when Conrad finally tore his eyes from the empty night sky he was smiling, and his unbeating heart was full of...something warm. Whatever it was, he felt fucking _great. _

He glanced over, and Hanna was watching him, looking happy. "Awesome right?"

"...Yeah, pretty awesome."

That seemed to thrill him, as he made a squeaky noise and squirmed in glee. Then he paused and blinked. "Oh, shit! I bet we're totally late for your thing now - uh, whatever it is. We should hurry!" And he took off, picking his way clumsily through the weeds, leaving his companions to stay or follow.

They followed of course, several feet behind him. It was getting darker fast and the zombie's eyes glowed a soft orange. Conrad didn't have to look to know he was watching Hanna closely, the way he always was. He let his eyes fall on the redhead as well, and, still in the warm, pleasant mood brought on by the white whatever-they-were's, ventured to strike up a conversation.

"So what was it you two were doing last night?"

"Gremlin infestation," came the deadpan reply. It would've been kinda funny if it wasn't...you know, for real.

"Oh...uh, wow. How'd that go?"

As if guessing his thoughts, the undead man said, "It wasn't as bad as it could've been." When Conrad prompted him to go on, he continued after a moment, "Hanna had most of them contained, but a few got loose. We chased them here, and found those other creatures by accident."

Conrad hummed in thought, before he narrowed his eyes a little suspiciously, but without any real malice. "Was it his idea all along to drag me out here?"

"Eventually, but not tonight. Until he saw how upset you looked, and figured you could do with seeing them a little sooner."

That certainly floored him. He stopped walking and the zombie stopped as well, watching him. "I looked upset?"

"Yes."

"And _Hanna _noticed?"

"You're his friend; he was bound to. This was just his way of trying to help." The zombie didn't say anything else, attention refocusing on the investigator; and when the redhead tripped spectacularly and vanished from view into the tall grass, the zombie's face shifted into an almost-smile, and he closed the distance between them. Conrad stayed where he was.

He hadn't had friends in school. He hadn't had friends _out of _school. He worked from home, didn't see much of the social picture. He was content {or something} in his quiet, solitary life, until a blue-eyed whirlwind changed all of that.

He didn't get to go outside in the daylight anymore. He couldn't eat the foods he liked, or have a cup of fucking _coffee _anymore. He had to survive off _blood, _for fuck's sake, and the smell of it fresh - well, frankly, it scared him. Everything he'd taken for granted in his life was gone; his humanity was all he had left and he was going to fucking keep it.

But...he was still alive. And things were okay. He had a group of people he could rely on, places to go if he didn't want to go home, numbers to call when he didn't want to be alone. Life was a little harder, but it was hard to begin with, and at least now he wasn't facing it alone.

Hanna had given him that.

Happy, annoying little Hanna, who'd agreed without question to go with him who-knows-where, who ruined his life and saved it, and showed him incredible things beyond his wildest imagination just to make him feel better on a bad day.

Hanna, who got swept up in the magic of life {good and bad}, but never forgot to drag him along for the ride.

Why the hell should he share any of that with fucking Roberts, just to prove a point? The bastard wouldn't get it anyway.

That warm feeling was back, even though the white things were long gone. He credited it to someone else then, someone who'd be sticking around for a while if he had anything to say about it – and Conrad was sure he did; he always did. And with a smile {of exasperation and resignation and _relief_} the vampire started walking.

And they ended up at Conrad's apartment; Hanna sprawled on the couch, his head in "Armstrong"'s lap, chattering happily about nothing in particular as Conrad ordered pizza.

Veser and Toni showed up a few hours later {the redhead denied calling them and Armstrong wouldn't rat him out, but his goofy smile was a total giveaway}, and the night was noise and chaos and stupid arguments and fights over the remote and in the end he was yanked onto the couch between a magic-user and a werewolf to watch a movie he'd never even heard of and didn't know he had and couldn't hear anyway over muffled giggles and mutters and rude commentary and laughter.

He sat back, getting comfortable.

_So… tonight wasn't a failure after all. _

"Hey! Connie, you smiled!"

* * *

A/N: Okay, so woah. Longer than my other hinabn oneshot, and for some reason (despite Hanna being my favorite character) Conrad comes much easier to me. Of course, that probably means I suck at writing him. –headdesk- Anyway… review! 8D?


End file.
